Planning Menus for Success

Today I would like to discuss what I feel is a critical element for success in the Weight Watchers program. Menu planning. As we live our all-too-busy lives, dinner time arrives every night about the same time. How we approach the task of preparing our meals goes a long way in determining the outcome of our health and fitness goals.

In this regard I have to give all the kudos to my lovely wife Linda. Each week, she pores over her myriad of cookbooks, selects healthy meals and plans out the menu for the week. Then she carefully prepares a list of all the needed ingredients and makes a detailed shopping list. My job is to push the cart around the store !

Yes my friends, I have the easy part. But seriously it makes all the difference in the world. Last minute running into the kitchen and throwing together a healthy meal is next to impossible. In the past, that was our way of doing it. Open the cabinets, stare at the foods available and then just go for it. And of course lots of times, faced with little or no options in that regard, and not wanting to race off to the market, we'd just go the fast food route or call the pizza man.

Having a good plan for the week not only makes healthy meal preparation easy, but greatly reduces the stress of making last-minute meal decisions (Lord knows we all have enough stress in our lives already). Also I like to look up at the fridge and anticipate the good food that is coming my way. Flexibility comes in the fact that the days are interchangeable also. Let's say you have A. written down for Monday, but instead B. for Tuesday sounds better. So just switch meals around.

It does require some extra work initially each week but reduces the daily work each night. And once you get in the habit of doing it, it becomes easier over time, as we all have favorites that can be a once a week items or a couple of times a month items. As far as Linda and myself are concerned we absolutely love the following recipe that Linda developed and serves often.

Happy and healthy eating to all.

Baked Orange Roughy

1 Package fresh or frozen Orange Roughy (approx 4 oz per serving needed)
1 Tsp. Tarragon
1/2 Tsp. Lemon Pepper
1 Lemon (sliced)

Preheat oven to 400. Spray baking dish with Pam. Place fish in backing dish and lightly spray with I can’t Believe It’s Not Butter. Sprinkle tarragon and lemon pepper on fish and cover with lemon slices. Bake uncovered for about 35 minutes or until fish flakes apart with fork.

Serve with steamed vegetable and steamed rice.

Point Value: Fish & veggies alone only 3 pts. per serving. Add 3 pts. for steamed whole grain rice.

Dave and Linda